The Balloonatic

The Balloonatic is a two-reel silent comedy film starring Buster Keaton and directed by Keaton and Edward F. Cline. It was released on January 22, 1923, by First National Pictures. Under current U.S. copyright law, all works published or registered in the United States prior to January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain regardless of their renewal status. This 'bright line' rule recently advanced to include 1927 in 2023, and 1928 in 2024. As a 1923 production, the film moved into the public domain in the United States on January 1, 1919 (after its 95-year term expired), though under the previous 1909 Act and the 1998 Extension Act, its maximum protection ended 95 years after publication. Even before the recent mass expiration of 1920s copyrights, many sources (including the Film Superlist and various Public Domain databases) identified this title as public domain due to older, specific copyright expirations or failure to renew properly if the 1923 publication was the starting point. However, the definitive 1928 cutoff currently applied by the U.S. Copyright Office renders it public domain internationally as well under the 'rule of the shorter term' where applicable.